SLow Rider - DD Beater

Yay!Gurrr

Yay!Gurrr

Better Faster Stronger
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Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
N. N. Raleigh, NC
SLow Rider is my new DD truck. While its not the typical econo box I will be playing with it as I work to get the MPG up. Shooting for 20+. I'll be getting a baseline this week as a starting point. Though the EGR isn't working so that will affect the numbers..

Anyway here are the specs.
1995 C1500 (1/2 ton) Short Cab Short Bed, 4.3L V6, 5 speed NV3500, 8.5" Rear w/3.08s rolling on dry rotted 235/75R15s

Was painted 3 years ago so it looks pretty good.
Overall its mechanically sound, and has been well taken care of, but previous owner always had a shop work on it, so a lot of little details are lacking. The normal TLC you put into something when its yours.

I was expecting to have to re-gear it but got lucky and it has the perfect 3.08s I would have wanted anyway.. It chugs along at 60mph pulling 1600 rpm. Its not a rocket ship but it pulls it ok.

So far the maintenance/fix list is: New tires. Fix the broken/needed items and any small things taken care of so its reliable. So far the list is, Radiator/Hoses, belt, water pump, idlers, ERG valve, O2 sensor and temp sensor. Not all these parts are broken but over the years I've learned that most of these are subject to failing with higher mileage. The low cost of these items makes it a no brainer to just change em now, especially with the radiator out and block drained.

DROP IT ! - After the maintenance stuff I will be lowing the truck. Pretty sure I'm settled on a 4/6 drop.. Its actually got a 2" shackle drop (leveling kit) on it now but I want to make it lower. This I hope will help with the MPGs though I know probably wont recoup the price of the parts it will make it more fun to drive everyday.

Interior - I will be looking for some buckets to replace the bench seat. And installing some cheep as radio to listen to some tunes..

Tuning - Its a 95 w/ the good 7274 PCM so I can have some fun tuning the computer a little. Nothing major just looking to tweak as much MPG out of it as possible. Plus there is some lean burn mods I plan to do that I've read is good for ~2mpg but you need a wide band O2 to fully monitor it. So this will be a more longer term thing..

Anyway some pics..

20100620-C1500 009.jpg

20100620-C1500 022.jpg
 
I had basically the same truck but in longbed when I got in the parts buisness.Good reliable transportation.They are gettin hard to find that are'nt eat up w miles.
 
I had one w/ a belltech 4 and 6 drop years ago. Mine was a 95 also but had the 350 in it. The ideas are endless on this particular truck and the most cost effective for parts and mods I've ever owned. Looks like you got a pretty straight one. VERY GOOD CHOICE.
 
Also need to french the plate into the tailgate. :beer:
 
Ya the overall reliability, cheep cost of parts both new and used and easy of work/maintenance on these trucks are why I settled on it.

I dono what look I'm going for, but it will be functional so, ill probably keep the plate on the bumper :)
 
yager said:
Interior - I will be looking for some buckets to replace the bench seat. And installing some cheep as radio to listen to some tunes..
Click to expand...
No, No, keep the bench seat. That way your girl can slide right up next to you when your crusin' around. :huggy:
 
Nice... When you get bored, you could always drop a Gen III motor in it and have power AND economy.. ;)
 
I would look into aluminum rims. According to the trucking industry, they run true-er that steel wheels and add a .0something% increase to the fuel mileage on big rigs... have to help on a little one. Should be cheap to find for stock aluminum rims, and you are replacing the tires anyways...
 
DD'd a 4.3 S10 for a long time, never tweaked the mileage too much but the truck still cranked and drove me 50 miles roundtrip every day with 300k+ on it. Nice looking truck, mods are really endless.
 
progress update - I did a pile of PM on the truck over the weekend.

The coolant was dark brown in color from the APO (asshole previous owner) dumping a can or 3 of bars leak to seal up a leaking radiator. People don't use that stuff, just fix the problem.

Friday I drained the brown coolant out and while doing so noticed the reservoir tank was bright green normal coolant.. Hmmmm I'm on to something.. SO I unplugged it from the radiator and tried to blow shop air into the hose but was unable to. So I removed the tank and found a blockage in the hose near the tank.. I suspect this was allowing the cooling system to over pressurize which is why the rad. tank was still leaking. SO I started flushing the coolant. I drained the block out and filled it with water and ran it a while and flushed a few times and refilled.

Opps forgot the EGR valve. It was leaking at the diaphragm causing a rough idle, surging at light cruise and check engine light. Quick fix to replace it and the truck runs/idles a ton better.

Today I tore it down to change out the radiator and several other parts. I flushed everything again, and back flushed the heater core. Flushed the block for a good while from the water pump holes in the block.

So all told I replaced the radiator, water pump, t-stat, hoses, belt, idlers pulleys and EGR. Also changed the O2 and temp. sensor. With all the new parts installed all you can hear are the injectors firing when its running. I saved a good bit by ordering the parts from rockauto.com last week.

The plugs/wires, cap/rotor + air filter all looked new, so I will run them a while. This covers most immediate repair items and the normal PM items.

This week I will collect some MPG#s for a good baseline. Next up is the 4/6 drop kit... Sitting in boxes are. 2" dropped spindles, 2" drop coils, and a 6" rear leaf flip kit w/ small C notch.
 
yager said:
This week I will collect some MPG#s for a good baseline. Next up is the 4/6 drop kit... Sitting in boxes are. 2" dropped spindles, 2" drop coils, and a 6" rear leaf flip kit w/ small C notch.
Click to expand...

cutting the frame is never a good thing with you, it seems to snow ball from there, you really sure you wanna do that ? :flipoff2:
 
Once you lower it, add side skirts, and a sun visor then you will have all the latinos checkin out your ride....
 
19.1 MPG yesterdays fill up. 70% 55-60 cruise + mixed driving. That was mostly pre-EGR fix, be curious to see how much that helps it.

I bought a kit for the drop, so i'm 'less likely' to do any custom mods... Trust me the thoughts "i can make that" crossed my mind. The C-kit was only $120 plus has the other parts needed. Trying not to make this a project vehicle.

I was thinking small skinny P tire with white wall, stretched onto 10" wheels would look killer ! How bazaar ;)
 
No sea foam but does that stuff really work?
I think the injectors need some cleaning. I need to replace the fuel filter.

P&P ? Headers ! Ya I priced them I don't need $600 headers... I will probably add a cat back at some point...

Turbo.... Probably not... Though I keep eying up the 4BT swaps ;)
 
homebrew P&P would be fun imo.... i dont think the 4bt would be a fun swap. That thing's just not got the performance, and any turning up would definitely increase the fuel consumption - that and you probably dont want to drive around town puffing smoke constantly
 
P&P, port and polish the heads?

Looking forward to this "build-up". I always question why someone would buy a beater honda, etc. when they can pick up something like this for about the same money, and have some style to ride in..
 
my bad, yes, port & polish. i guess it all depends on how much you like to piddle on your shit. Either way it's an awesome project
 
Ya I don't know, initially i was thinking headers and 3" single exhaust but the $ for headers sunk that idea.. I mean i've lugging this thing around at 1500-2000 rpm so im not sure that gets me much at this point..

If i could pick up a set of heads I'd surely spend the needed time doing some simple gasket matching and shine up the insides a little.. Thats free HP there..

I need to start some data logging and see what my #s look like..
 
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